Thursday, December 12, 2013

Banshee Season One

Banshee refers to the name of the town this gloriously pulpy Alan Ball produced ShowTime series occurs in. The twisty turny plot follows recently released a recently paroled Lucas Hood (played by Antony Starr) as he searches for the love of his life who is the partner and went to prison to cover for, and played by Ivana Milicevic. This occurs while he tries to avoid the Mob Boss he screwed over when working the job that got him busted.

An utter random turn of events leads Hood to take on the role of Sheriff in this town, controlled by an ex Amsih man turned mob boss named Kai Proctor. And this is just the set up. The first two and final two episodes are good but not great while the middle six episodes make up a pretty compelling clever story. Hood's partners are played by a show stealers Frankie Fasion (a retired boxer) and my favorite character Hoon Lee's aggressive transvestite computer hacker.

This being Cinemax there are some amazingly out of place scenes of random fucking that add nothing to the plot. Antony Starr's range is also wasted in his role. He is asked to do little more than skulk and be pissed off, though a few scenes where his character is presented in true emotional turmoil prove this actor is capable of much more. The true standout though is Ivana Milicevic who brings genuine human emotion turmoil in a nuanced performance that grounds the entire series.

While not amazing overall if you want a series that is interestingly plotted with some very well choreographed hand to hand fight sequences and relish an old pulpy vibe this should sate your appetite for awhile.